In a surprising move, one of the government’s most unrelenting liberal critics takes up the defence of the President of the National Office for the Judiciary against attacks from both sides of the political dividing line. READ MORE

A pro-government commentator trumpets the fact that Italian PM Renzi’s decision to lower the retirement age for judges has not been criticized as undemocratic by the European media and the EU, while a similar decision by Viktor Orbán three years ago provoked a harsh rebuke. READ MORE

A conservative columnist comments on PM Orbán’s remark about the death penalty points out that taking someone’s life is contrary to Christian values, even if such measures would help to save other lives through discouraging criminals from violent acts. READ MORE

Commentators from both the left and right agree that former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány has successfully stolen the show and managed to use the court hearing in a land swap deal to gain publicity and accuse his opponents of acting against national interest. READ MORE

After a group of Gypsies attacking far-right anti-Roma protesters were found guilty of hate-crime, the leading left liberal daily accuses the Hungarian courts of discriminating against the Roma. READ MORE

Liberal commentators criticize the Hungarian justice system for what they see as the misuse of free speech, in their reflections on a court ruling which condemned a historian for calling Jobbik a neo-Nazi party. READ MORE

A left-wing columnist believes European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding should resign after accusing the Hungarian justice system of political bias. READ MORE

A centrist commentator emphasizes that the Hungarian Constitutional Court, by invoking Hungary’s ’historical constitution’, found a weapon against the government’s attempts „to govern through constitutional changes.” The pro-government media mostly passed over the July 16th decision, while liberal commentators pointed out that six of the seven dissenting judges were Fidesz-appointees. READ MORE

A Magyar Nemzet commentator dismisses as absurd the charges levelled by Senator Ben Cardin (Dem) against the Hungarian government. Népszabadság cautions the right wing against branding the senator an enemy of Hungary. READ MORE